Sunday, 23 December 2012

Once more I am able to share with you all the latest show from Haunted Earth!
Earlier in December, I entertained a private investigation of my home for members of Paranormal People Investigators on Facebook (click link) who investigated the Art Deco room and Master Bedroom at my home.

Some amazing EVP was captured, with some interesting spirit communication on a K2 EMF meter.
Without further explanation, please check out the video below.

Note: Normal regular blog posts will resume in the New Year. Through work and other important commitments I haven`t had the time available to update regularly.

My apologies, but may I wish you all a great Christmas, and a fantastic New Year!!

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Here is the very latest Haunted Earth Show ..
In this edition I carry out a solo investigation of my own active home, and capture some amazing EVP including that of a cat!

My home has been `haunted` by a tortoiseshell cat for a number of years. Occasionally she was heard around the house, but never in measurable amounts of activity.
In December 2011, I sadly lost one of my two cats to cancer. She was very affectionate, and followed me around the house often.

After she was put to sleep by a vet, I placed her body in the garage for burial the following day.
That night she appeared in a life form demanding to be let into the house.
Knowing she was in spirit, and to be able to see her one last time was quite an amazing and calming experience for me, and of course, very reassuring.

It was so realistic that I was prompted to re-check she was actually in spirit. Sadly her body remained, and the following day she was buried under her favourite apple tree in the rear garden.
As I was doing this, her brother appeared out of nowhere and sat by her grave and howled for two minutes before walking away. I guess there is no doubt that he knew this was where they parted on their life journey.

However, since she departed, cat purring has been audibly heard and recorded on camcorder.
Recently this purring activity has increased in intensity, and sometimes it is so loud on camcorder that you would have assumed it was heard, but sadly not so. Just occasionally a very faint purr that was barely discernible to the ear.

Recently I shared the purring section from my latest video on Facebook.
Some sceptics were convinced that I was actually recording a live cat, and that the footage was faked.
On Saturday December 1st 2012, I held a private investigation at my home with members from Paranormal People Investigations, who has a page is on Facebook.

Together with camcorders an investigation of the house was made.
Members faintly heard the purring, but it was only on review later by this group that they actually heard the same phenomena from the video tape, and they were quite shocked as to it`s clarity and frequency.

The EVP was detected (as with my current show investigation) in the Art Deco room and master bedroom.
At one point, it was so loud that it virtually drowned the voices of the speaking guests.

This will be made available in my next show which hopefully will be broadcast shortly before Christmas 2012.

Itinerary of this show:

02:04 `A Very Haunted Night` A very interesting home investigation, with some great activity.
12:30 A view on EVP.
21:35 End talk and finish on a topical subject.

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Here is a clip I`m sharing from my forthcoming, `Haunted Earth Show` for November 2012.
My home is haunted by a variety of visitors, but this EVP of a cat purring is the one permanent resident.
I first saw this creature in spirit a few years back. It was sat on the landing with my two cats staring at it.
The cat was tortoiseshell, which denotes it`s sex in life as female.
All three cat`s scattered upon my approach, with the tortoiseshell running into a bedroom.
The only problem was that the door was closed, and seeing a creature in spirit passing through solid mass is one of the more stranger sights I have experienced since living in this property.
Hope you enjoy :)

Friday, 16 November 2012

Perhaps Henrico County’s most famous spirits are the “ghost riders” who
surfaced during the construction and early usage of the Pocahontas
Parkway more than a decade ago. Newspapers and magazines from as far
away as Australia reported on the strange phenomena, which first made
headlines in the summer of 2002.

Initial reports centered around an incident in which a long-haul trucker
saw a trio of Indian warriors wearing breech cloths, carrying torches
and walking in the middle of the newly-opened parkway. Assuming the
Indians were staging a protest, the truck driver sounded a warning blast
of his horn at two additional torch-bearers he saw in his headlights,
and reported the incident at the toll plaza.

The toll-taker – knowing of similar eerie accounts from numerous
motorists and construction workers – filed an official report. Among
other stories making the rounds at the time was that of an engineer who
was working nights to finish the parkway and reported that he and
several construction workers spotted an Indian mounted on a horse at the
bottom of the bridge. The Indian appeared to be watching them from the
interstate below – and just as they were about to shoo him off, telling
him horseback riders aren’t allow
ed on the interstate, the man and his
steed
disappeared.

The toll plaza

Other toll booth attendants described spirit pranksters who liked to
bang on the back of the metal maintenance buildings. One toll-taker lost
her appetite as she was about to break for a midnight meal, after
seeing her can of soda moving from one place to another on the table.
Plaza workers also reported seeing ghostly figures running back and
forth around the loading dock and hearing drumbeats mingled with chants,
whoops and high-pitched howls emitted by dozens of voices.

Long-time residents who live on land adjoining the parkway were not
surprised by the reports, having heard nighttime noises resembling
drumbeats and chanting for decades.

Ron Hadad, owner of Hadad’s Lake, has lived less than a mile from the
toll plaza for almost 50 years and recalls that his mother swore she
heard “hooting and hollering” long before the expressway was ever built.

Although Hadad has never seen any ghosts, he mentions that the daughter
of a local Indian chief once told him that there are an abundance of
spirits in the area. Hadad suggests that he is not inclined to deny such
spirits exist.

After all, he says, “I’ve seen the look on my mother’s face.”

A legend is born
In a pre-construction dig at the toll plaza site led by archaeologists
from the College of William and Mary, excavators found Native American
artifacts dating back 6,000 years, and historians have speculated that
the area was inhabited as long ago as 3500 BC.

There’s little doubt that the parkway cuts through the site of ancient
Indian villages, and that the toll plaza in particular rests on Indian
burial grounds. So surely, Native Americans had reason to be upset about
a modern expressway plowing through their old hunting and fishing
grounds and ancient resting place. Yet spokespersons for the tribes in
the area insisted that no anti-parkway campaign or protests were ever
organized – at least by living natives.

Chris Dovi, a reporter who covered the 2002 incidents for the Richmond
Times-Dispatch, recalls that he interviewed state troopers and multiple
toll workers and examined numerous incident reports about vague outlines
of Indian figures darting back and forth around – and sometimes even
through – the plaza buildings. Indians on horseback also were said to
have ridden right through passing cars and trucks as they crossed the
roadway.

Descriptions of the images seen around the toll plaza varied, Dovi says,
but most described the figures as “a legless, [fully-formed] torso with
an indistinct head.”

Although troopers responded to dozens of calls, the only one who saw
anything was an officer who followed up on reports of a spectral image
behind the toll plaza office building – which allegedly showed up in
security camera footage.

“So they called the trooper,” recalls Dovi, “and [the image] was still outside. The trooper freaked out.”

Virginia State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller also visited the plaza
and told Dovi that she was unnerved by the howls and wails she heard,
which could not easily be explained away.

“I talked Corinne into going out there with me one night,” Dovi says,
noting that they spent the hours from midnight to 3 or 4 a.m. on the
scene.

“We heard drums and whooping pretty frequently – intermittent and off in
the distance,” says Dovi, who is now affiliated with Richmond Magazine
and radio station WRIR. “If I had to speculate on what it was, I’d say
geese. But there was no body of water [near the sound], and when Corinne
and I walked over, it would stop.

“We spent a good part of the evening wandering around – and whenever we would leave an area, we’d hear it again.”

‘Pocahaunted’ Parkway
Once the story broke about the “Pocahaunted” Parkway, as it had now been
dubbed, amateur ghost-hunters swarmed to the parkway at night. Parking
illegally on the roadside and overpasses, thrill-seekers brought coolers
and lounged on picnic blankets, hoping to hear drumbeats or catch a
glimpse of the ghostly apparitions. So many
visitors began parking illegally and trespassing on nearby private
property, in fact, that state and county police had to work overtime to
control the crowds, and the newspaper published another story warning of
the dangers. Professional ghost-hunters and paranormal investigators
also descended on the area, recalls Hadad. “They lined up on 895 for a
mile just waiting for something,” he says, “with all their machines.”

One paranormal investigator who knew a little of the Algonquian tongue
attempted to communicate with the spirits in their ancient language. As
he later reported on his website, “The first few words had barely left
my mouth when I heard a popping, hissing sound and was startled to see
what appeared to be a bolt of horizontal lightning slowly coming toward
me, at a height of about six feet above the ground. It hit the mound in
front of me and a giant crack
opened up.”

Out of the crack, wrote the investigator, appeared the faces of foxes,
coyotes, and beaver – bringing to mind the old Indian legend that
spirits return in animal form. “The most outstanding of all,” he said,
“was the Spirit of the Great White Wolf, who supposedly watches over all
that are buried there.”

Ghost cars
But Indian sightings and disembodied chants were not the only eerie
occurrences to have taken place around the parkway and toll plaza. Less
well publicized are the spirits who apparently drove cars, and were
encountered by more than one toll worker and trooper, according to Dovi.

“I talked to a bunch of the plaza ladies, [who said] they would hear a
car coming, and would sense a car,” Dovi recalls. “The car would pass
through the toll booth and would even displace air – but there would be
no car.”

One night, a trooper was standing near the toll plaza and sensed, but never saw, an approaching car as well.

“He jumped out of the road,” said Dovi. “He was afraid he would get hit.”

Ron Hadad can tell tales of ghost cars as well – although the events
took place decades ago, when he was a young adult living in the pool
house on his parents’ property.

Occasionally, late at night, Hadad and his dog, Zeus, would wake to the
sound of a car on gravel outside the window. Hearing a car park next to
his room, and hearing footsteps approaching on the gravel, Hadad would
get up and go to the window to see who was there. Every time, he found
nothing.

“Naturally you’re going to try and look at it from the logical point of
view,” says Hadad, who did his best to try and explain the sounds away.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that sound carries, especially at
night; and back then – before they built [the parkway] – you could hear
I-95.”

But his home was in the middle of the woods, he says – and his dog was
hearing the sounds too. “Zeus was a smart dog,” says Hadad. “So if I
was going crazy, my dog was too.

“I can’t explain it. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up as I talk about it.”

Although it’s been years since Hadad’s late-night experiences, and
reports of the Pocahontas Parkway ghosts have died down in the
intervening decade, there can be no denying that some unusual events
surrounded the opening of the road.

For some time, rumors ran rampant that the Virginia Department of
Transportation had videotaped proof of the hauntings, including images
of an Indian on a horse walking through the toll plaza, but that the
tape had been “lost” and the story covered up. On the other hand,
skeptics raised suspicion that the whole thing was a publicity stunt,
designed to attract more motorists to the pricey and under-used new toll
road.

Whatever the source of the noise and the sightings, however, there’s no
doubt that the occurrences earned the Pocahontas Parkway, at least
fleetingly, a measure of international fame.

And many are the believers who agree that it has earned, as well, the
title bestowed by one curiosity-seeker: “perhaps the most haunted toll
road in the U.S. – even the world.”

Thursday, 15 November 2012

WHEN the landlady calls time, she is the visitor who refuses to leave.
A spooky spirit affectionately dubbed "Beryl" has been causing mischief at The Manchester Arms in Hull.

She flickers lights, turns off machines, plays with hair, causes floods and has even been captured on CCTV.
Lisa and Mark Fowler took over the Old Town pub ten weeks ago and have been experiencing some spooky goings-on ever since.

"Sometimes, it feels like someone is running fingers through your hair," said Lisa, 38.
"Other times, it feels like someone is behind you, but when you
turn round, you catch a shadow in the corner of your eye but nothing is
there.
"Then I couldn't believe it when I saw the CCTV footage."

On the evening of November 1, Lisa had been preparing to go to
bed, in the family's home above the pub, when she went into the office
to check the computers.

Mark was downstairs cleaning the bar when Lisa spotted something on the CCTV screen.
She said: "I phoned down to one of our barmaids, Gemma, and asked her if she'd let anyone else in.
"She said no but I could definitely make out a lady on the screen.
"I went running downstairs to see what was going on, but there was nothing there."

The ghostly face spotted at the Manchester Arms in Scale Lane, Hull

It is believed Beryl was part of the pub's rich history and, at some point, was a regular.
Lisa says the woman looks like she is in her fifties. She appears
to be wearing a fur collar and is looking down the bar towards the
front door.

Lisa said: "One night, we were working and the Coca-Cola went
off. We'd only just changed it, so thought it was odd it had ran out, so
I sent one of the staff to the shop for some bottles.
"When we had time later, we went down to the basement and the pipe leading to the coke had been loosened.

"The hatch to the cellar is under the bar and had been shut all night, no one could have gone down there."
Lisa and Mark, who live at the pub with their children James, 16,
and Alicia, 12, say they can sometimes see frosty breath in the cellar,
even though it is kept between 12 and 14 degrees.
Other spooky feelings include cold patches in certain areas of
the pub and a weight on your body, as if someone is leaning on you.

The ghost has also been turning off a pump, which stops the basement from flooding in heavy rain.
But despite getting "goosebumps", Lisa is convinced the ghost is a friendly one.
She said: "I'm not one of these people that believes in silly goings-on.
"I used to explain things away like an electrical fault or just shadows, but, after the CCTV footage, I'm convinced.

"Thankfully, I think she is friendly – it doesn't feel sinister when she is around."

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

ALTHOUGH Halloween has been and gone, spooky goings on are still being experienced by visitors to a historic site in Elstow.

During a recent visit to Moot Hall, Totternhoe resident and paranormal investigator, Andy Matthews, believes he saw a ghostly apparition as he was taking a tour around the building with curator Clive Arnold. Andy, 47, said: “I was listening to Clive telling me the strange happenings that had been going on when my gaze moved to one of the old original timber frames on the ground floor which began to shake, not slightly, but violently. “Before I could utter a word, a human shaped white mass about five feet tall came out of the timber frame, walked three to four steps toward me and then vanished.”

According to Clive, this is not the first time anyone has seen paranormal activity in the hall, as other visitors had reported seeing the ghost of a small boy and a woman on the ground floor.

On the first occasion when he visited in September, Andy even managed to pick up an audio recording of the sounds as he was recording his tour with Clive for his own website. However when he played it back he heard some bizarre voices of people who weren’t present in the room at the time.

MOODY architecture, a history of murder most foul and bodysnatching, twisting and turning closes and wynds, walled-up streets, underground tunnels and graveyards galore... is it any wonder that Edinburgh has been named as the most haunted city on the planet?

It’s at Hallowe’en that its creepy credentials come creaking out of the coffin, boosting the Royal Mile ghostly tour businesses as well as the city’s population if you count all the spirits which are said to make themselves known around now.

According to author and founder of tour company City of the Dead, Jan-Andrew Henderson, Hallowe’en is always a busy time. “The thing with ghosts is they’re always the same, it’s the same stories, but people love to be scared. And Edinburgh has lots of places to get scared.”

So which are the most haunted places in town? Here’s our guide to the top ten...

1 MARY KING’S CLOSE

The infamous street is reputed to be where some of the first victims of the Black Death in 1645 were locked up and left to die. Which of course means that the place is full of ghosts desperate to escape the terrible fate which befell them when in human form...

One of the earliest and best documented ghost stories from the Close concerns the Coltheart family and took place 40 years after the last outbreak of plague. The story goes that Thomas Coltheart moved into the Close and within a day had seen a floating head, a young child, and various ghostly pets. Within weeks Mr Coltheart was dead and no-one wanted to live there again.

However, the truth about the Close isn’t quite so exotic – it was apparently still being litved in in 1901 – but that hasn’t slain the ghost stories. There are reports of scratching coming from inside a chimney where a child sweep is said to have died. Others claim to have heard the sounds of a party or crowded tavern, while a worried man is said to be spotted pacing around.

There’s also little “Annie” and her shrine. She was first seen by a Japanese psychic, who said the girl was crying for her mother and her doll, so she left the little ghost girl a toy – an action which has been repeated by many visitors since.

2 SOUTH BRIDGE

Built in just a year, opening in 1786, South Bridge swept away many old wynds of Edinburgh and the inside of the 1000ft long bridge is full of vaults and chambers and tunnels – just the sort of places ghosts like to hang out.

Whistle Binkie’s Bar, in Niddry Street is apparently home to a long-haired gentleman in 17th-century costume known as The Watcher. No-one has ever seen his face. Since the 1990s another entity, The Imp, has also inhabited the bar and storerooms in South Bridge, making mischief by stopping clocks and slamming doors.

3 GREYFRIARS KIRKYARD
Also view: THE MACKENZIE POLTERGEIST OF OLD EDINBURGH
The home of the devoted Bobby and his master has a more sinister side. It’s the burial place of Bloody George MacKenzie, the man who imprisoned 1200 Covenanters in a field next to the cemetery, executing some while others died of maltreatment. His inhumanity earned him his nickname.

He was buried in the Black Mausoleum, ironically right next to the Covenanter’s Prison, and stories began that his coffin would move around as he couldn’t rest
because of the atrocities he’d committed.

Certainly since tours to the mausoleum began there have been hundreds of reported sightings and attacks by his
poltergeist. There have been sightings of a white figure, knocking noises, and dead animals with no obvious signs of injury have been discovered outside it.

The Castle is said to be haunted by several apparitions, including the ghost of John Graham of Claverhouse, nicknamed Bloody Clavers for his ruthless persecution of Covenanters in the 17th century. Yes, he was a mate of McKenzie’s.

In 1689, the Duke of Gordon, then the Castle’s governor, stabbed his steward for bringing news of his family’s death, and the poor man is said to now wander the walls. As does the ghost of Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis, who was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake in 1537. Then there’s the phantom drumming, ghostly bagpipers and invisible marching troops.

5 MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD

Another story connected to the plague years. The museum is reported to ring with the cries of children late at night – children who were sealed into their nursery by town council officials and left to die.

But not alone. Apparently their mothers demanded to be let in. None was seen again, but they can still be heard.

6 QUEENSBERRY HOUSE

The Canongate has many ghosts – including the burning spectre of the daughter of a respectable 18th century family who was apparently killed after becoming pregnant to a servant. Then there’s the historic Queensberry House in the centre of the new Scottish Parliament haunted by a kitchen boy roasted and eaten by James Douglas, the mad Earl of Drumlanrig, in 1707.

7 PALACE OF HOLYROODHOUSE

According to Jan-Andrew Henderson, the palace has an excellent class of ghost, being haunted by Mary, Queen of Scots, her husband Lord Darnley and her murdered Italian secretary David Rizzio. Let’s not forget the naked ghost of Bald Agnes though. She was stripped and tortured in 1592 after being accused of witchcraft.

8 WEST BOW

The site of the former Anderson’s Close, torn down in 1827, on Victoria Street, was home to Major Thomas Weir, aka The Wizard of the West Bow. Weir was a strict Presbyterian and Covenanter – not one of McKenzie’s friends – but when he became ill he confessed to a life of crime and vice.

Eventually he and his sister were taken to the Edinburgh Tolbooth for interrogation and both told tales of witchcraft, sorcery and incest. He was strangled and burned, while she was hanged. The street is also said to be haunted by sailor Angus Roy, who was crippled on a voyage in 1820.

9 GEORGE STREET

Try to spot Jane Vernelt, who died in the early 20th century after losing her shop due to bad financial advice and has been seen several times in broad daylight, heading for the now non-existent property.

10 ROYAL LYCEUM

The theatre in Grindlay Street is home to occasional sightings of a blue lady, believed to be Ellen Terry, the actress who performed at the Lyceum’s first show.

OTHER THINGS WHICH GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Charlotte Square is said to have a musical spook – listen closely for the sound of a ghostly piano being played – while the Playhouse is haunted by a stagehand. He goes by the name of Albert.

Number 15 Learmonth Gardens in the 1930s was beset by the ghost of an Egyptian priest after the owners took home a bone. And Balcarres Street in Morningside is haunted by the Green Lady, thought to be Elizabeth Pittendale, killed by her husband after being caught “canoodling” with her stepson.

Ann Street in the New Town was home to a Mr Swan, who drowned at sea but is said to return regularly to wave goodbye to his family.

Friday, 9 November 2012

This account of hauntings at Leap Castle was published originally as True Irish Ghost Stories, by St. John D. Seymour and Harry L. Neligan, [1914]

Leap Castle - the burnt out `Priests House` is to the left.

Leap Castle, in the heart of Ireland has been described as perhaps the worst haunted mansion in the British Isles. That it deserves this doubtful recommendation, we cannot say; but at all events the ordinary reader will be prepared to admit that it contains sufficient "ghosts" to satisfy the most greedy ghost-hunter. A couple of months ago the present writer paid a visit to this castle, and was shown all over it one morning by the mistress of the house, who, under the nom de plume of "Andrew Merry" has published novels dealing with Irish life, and has also contributed articles on the ghostly phenomena of her house to the Occult Review (Dec. 1908 and Jan. 1909).

The place itself is a grim, grey, bare building. The central portion, in which is the entrance-hall, is a square castle of the usual type; it is built on a rock, and a slight batter from base to summit gives an added appearance of strength and solidity. On either side of the castle are more modern wings, one of which terminates in what is known as the "Priest's House."

Now to the ghosts. The top storey of the central tower is a large, well-lighted apartment, called the "Chapel," having evidently served that purpose in times past. At one end is what is said to be an oubliette, now almost filled up. Occasionally in the evenings, people walking along the roads or in the fields see the windows of this chapel lighted up for a few seconds as if many lamps were suddenly brought into it. This is certainly not due to servants; from our experience we can testify that it is the last place on earth that a domestic would enter after dark. It is also said that a treasure is buried somewhere in or around the castle. The legend runs that an ancestor was about to be taken to Dublin on a charge of rebellion, and, fearing he would never return, made the best of the time left to him by burying somewhere a crock full of gold and jewels. Contrary to expectation, he did return; but his long confinement had turned his brain, and he could never remember the spot where he had deposited his treasure years before. Some time ago a lady, a Miss B., who was decidedly psychic, was invited to Leap Castle in the hope that she would be able to locate the whereabouts of this treasure. In this respect she failed, unfortunately, but gave, nevertheless, a curious example of her power. As she walked through the hall with her hostess, she suddenly laid her hand upon the bare stone wall, and remarked, "There is something uncanny here, but I don't know what it is." In that very spot, some time previously, two skeletons had been discovered walled up.

The `Bloody Chapel` at Leap.

The sequel to this is curious. Some time after, Miss B. was either trying automatic writing, or else was at a séance (we forget which), when a message came to her from the Unseen, stating that the treasure at Leap Castle was concealed in the chapel under the tessellated pavement near the altar. But this spirit was either a "lying spirit," or else a most impish one, for there is no trace of an altar, and it is impossible to say, from the style of the room, where it stood; while the tessellated pavement (if it exists) is so covered with the debris of the former roof that it would be almost impossible to have it thoroughly cleared.

There is as well a miscellaneous assortment of ghosts. A monk with tonsure and cowl walks in at one window of the Priest's House, and out at another. There is also a little old man, dressed in the antique garb of a green cut-away coat, knee breeches, and buckled shoes: he is sometimes accompanied by an old lady in similar old-fashioned costume. Another ghost has a penchant for lying on the bed beside its lawful and earthly occupant; nothing is seen, but a great weight is felt, and a consequent deep impression made on the bedclothes.

The lady of the house states that she has a number of letters from friends, in which they relate the supernatural experiences they had while staying at the Castle. In one of these the writer, a gentleman, was awakened one night by an extraordinary feeling of intense cold at his heart. He then saw in front of him a tall female figure, clothed from head to foot in red, and with its right hand raised menacingly in the air: the light which illuminated the figure was from within. He lit a match, and sprang out of bed, but the room was empty. He went back to bed, and saw nothing more that night, except that several times the same cold feeling gripped his heart, though to the touch the flesh was quite warm.

But of all the ghosts in that well-haunted house the most unpleasant is that inexplicable thing that is usually called "It." The lady of the house described to the present writer her personal experience of this phantom. High up round one side of the hall runs a gallery which connects with some of the bedrooms. One evening she was in this gallery leaning on the balustrade, and looking down into the hall. Suddenly she felt two hands laid on her shoulders; she turned round sharply, and saw "It" standing close beside her. She described it as being human in shape, and about four feet high; the eyes were like two black holes in the face, and the whole figure seemed as if it were made of grey cotton-wool, while it was accompanied by a most appalling stench, such as would come from a decaying human body. The lady got a shock from which she did not recover for a long time.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Even without visiting Prague, most people have a good idea of what to expect of the city. The capital of the Czech Republic is famed for its cheap beer and excessive nightlife, attracting stag and group holidays all year around.

Prague also has a (well-earned) reputation for being a cultural city, with a complex communist history, exquisite examples of Baroque and Gothic architecture and a wide selection of museums and galleries. But, unless you've visited Prague for yourself, it’s very rare to find people who know about the haunted streets, famous legends and violent stories of Prague’s past.

The Iron Man

One of Prague’s ghosts is so famous that the city has a statue in his honour. The Iron Man statue is found in Prague’s Old Town, and is one of the only statues in the world to honour a ghost. The legend goes that the Iron Man was once a local Czech man called Jáchym Berka. Engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Jáchym Berka left the city to defend his country in the wars.

On his return Jáchym was told his betrothed had been unfaithful to him, a malicious lie that Jáchym believed to be true. Without speaking to his fiancée,

Jáchym married a different girl. When his childhood sweetheart heard Jáchym had returned and married somebody else, she was so heartbroken that she drowned herself in the Vltava River.

Her father, in shame of the whole affair, killed himself by leaping out of a high tower. When Jáchym realised he had been lied to, that his fiancée hadn’t been unfaithful and that now she and her father were dead as a result of him marrying another girl, he strangled his new wife and then hung himself in a cellar on Good Friday. His unhappy story and violent death has led many to believe that Jáchym’s soul does not rest. He is said to wander Platnéřská Street, trapped in a ghostly servitude, waiting to be released. But his freedom comes at a price.

Every 100 years, legend says that Jáchym has a chance to be freed if he has a friendly walk with a pure virgin girl for one hour. Unfortunately for Jáchym, he has yet to find a girl willing to do so. The last chance for the Iron Man to be freed was in 2009, and without finding such a lady to free him, the Iron Man continues to haunt Prague for another 100 years.

Ghost of Headless Laura

Another notorious legend of Prague is the ghost of Headless Laura that haunts the Dominican Monastery. The stories say that when she was alive, Laura was one the most beautiful and talented actresses in all of the Czech Republic. Unfortunately for a woman so beautiful and talented, Laura was married to a man who had a mean jealous streak. Laura performed at the Nostic Theatre in Prague, and one of her regular admirers was a rich count who was madly in love with her.

The count wished to win Laura’s heart and wooed her, and eventually Laura fell in love with the count and began an affair with him. One night, after being with the count, Laura came home to find her husband still up. He was suspicious of her, accused her of infidelity and in a jealous rage he killed her and cut off her head.

The husband’s fierce hatred of the count meant that he sent the head of his decapitated wife to the count’s house. No-one knows where the count buried Laura’s head, and now it is said that headless Laura wanders Mala Strana at witching hour unable to rest without her head.

There are so many ghost stories and legends of Prague and many have dedicated attractions to their stories. The Prague Ghost Museum is a must for ghost-lovers visiting Prague. If you’re strapped for cash though, you can print off a free street map of Prague, with a route of the famous ghost sites.

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Indian Army troops guarding the Indo-China border have reported sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. An Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) unit deployed in Thakung, near the Pangong Tso Lake, reported over 100 sightings of luminous objects between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15 this year.

The Indian Army, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) and National Technical Research Organization (NTRO) have been unable to identify these Unidentified Luminous Objects or ULOs, dubbed thus for the glow they give off “at day and by night.” Reports say these yellow spheres rise up on the horizon from the Chinese side, gliding across the sky for three to four hours before disappearing.

Are Aliens watching the China/India border?

The Indian military officials, who studied the hazy photographs taken by ITBP, have ruled out Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Chinese drones or low-orbit satellites. There were reportedly 99 documented sightings of Chinese drones between January and August 2012, as noted by the India Today magazine.

Perturbed by persistent sightings of the mysterious lights by the Leh-based military unit 14 Corps in September, the Army reportedly deployed a mobile ground-based radar unit and spectrum analyzer which captures frequencies emitted from any object on a mountaintop near the 160-km-long, ribbon-shaped Pangong Lake that lies between India and China. The machines did not detect any signals, indicating that the ULOs are non-metallic. The army also sent a drone in the direction of the object but lost sight of it, reported India Today.

Astronomers from the Indian Astronomical Observatory at Hanle, 150 km south of the lake, were summoned to study the flying objects. Army officials reported that although the team saw the ULOs, their findings were inconclusive and the only assessment they could come up with was that these were “non celestial” in nature.

This unexplained mystery has caused more embarrassment than fear in the Indian military.

"Something is clearly wrong, if our combined scientific resources can't explain the phenomena," says a senior Army official in Delhi as quoted by India Today. These objects may be a crude psychological operation put forth by the Chinese or sophisticated probes to gauge India’s defense preparedness in Ladakh.

Indian Army convoy in Kashmir

Director of New Delhi's Nehru Planetarium N. Ratnashri says these could be ambient light-reflecting objects borne by balloons, as reported by Los Angeles Times. "I wouldn't put much faith in photographs of a shape that could be anything," she said. "There's nothing to tell us there isn't extraterrestrial life, but nothing to tell us there is."

Sightings of UFOs have been occurring with greater frequency in the last 10 years. Indian troops along the Siachen border often see floating lights but are wary of reporting the occurrences for fear of ridicule. The Indian Air Force investigated sightings of ULOs in 2010, only to dismiss them as Chinese lanterns. Military unit, 14 Corps, had also sent a detailed file on sightings of luminous objects to the Army headquarters, reports India Today, which was angrily brushed aside as hallucinations by the then army chief, General N.C.Vij.

"We can't ignore these sightings. We need to probe what new technology might have been deployed there,” former Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal (retired) P.V. Naik said as stated in India Today.

Acclaimed Pune-based astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar says, “There is no evidence of UFOs being of extra-terrestrial origin. The implication of them being alien objects is fancy, not fact.”

Scientists aver that due to the rough topography and sparse demography of the Himalayan regions, sightings that may seem out of this world are quite common.

"The region is snowbound in winter, has few roads and is one of the most isolated places in India," says Sunil Dhar, a geologist at the government Post Graduate College in Dharamshala, who has studied glaciers in the region for 15 years.

One of the most unusual sightings to date has been that in the Lahaul-Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh, less than 100 km south of Ladakh, in 2004.

During a research expedition in the barren Samudra Tapu Valley in 2004, a five-member group of geologists encountered a 4-foot tall robot-like figure, walking some 50 meters from them. The scientists filmed the humanoid object, which went from metallic white to black and hovered in the air before dematerializing.

The whole episode, which lasted 40 minutes, was witnessed by 14 people including the researchers. Dr. Anil Kulkarni, the team lead, separately interviewed every member of the expedition to validate the sighting. Kulkarni confirmed that it was an unnatural phenomenon. A detailed report of the occurrence was sent to the PMO, ISRO, the Army and several intelligence agencies, states India Today. The report was, however, suppressed and has yet to see the light of day.

For Dhar, who was a part of the 2004 expedition, it is an indelible experience. These inexplicable enigmas need intensive examination, feels Dhar.

The UFO conundrum could just compound the already numerous points of contention, ranging from the border dispute to the Tibetan Dilemma, between the two countries.

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

A hotel wedding photo captured an intriguing shape that some say is a ghost.The image was taken at North Carolina's Lake Lure Inn and Spa by one of the hotel's managers.Patrick Bryant said he snapped the pic in the dining room of what he thought was just an ice sculpture."I turned off the flash so I could see the light shining through the ice sculpture," Bryant said.However, after he posted the photo online many people inquired about a boyish apparition is in the background."Sure enough, there's a transparent picture of what appears to be a ghost," Bryant said.According to Bryant, the unusual image is not the first ghost story associated with the hotel."We've also heard laughter at nighttime, as well as footsteps," he said.Most visitors are intrigued by the venue's history of ghost sightings, he said.

A close-up of the image of a boy

Originally owned by a doctor named Lucius Morse, the hotel’s construction came nearly three decades after Morse’s purchase of the nearby Chimney Rock park, which surrounded a huge stone outcropping once used by area natives in their rituals. Morse, a wealthy man from Missouri, grew to love the area, and like many investors of the period bought the property with interest in developing a hotel in the center of the region’s natural beauty. The Lake Lure Inn was opened in 1927, though Morse apparently passed away prior to the grand opening of his beautiful hotel.Some might argue that Morse’s own spirit could be one of the number of ghosts said to linger on the property. One story related by a supervisor at the hotel might have indicated this. The woman often suffered from nausea, due to a variety of medications she was required to take for health problems she had acquired. On one occasion while she had been feeling sick, she entered the bathroom, and though she was alone, she claimed to hear a voice from somewhere nearby ask, “Are you okay?” Startled, she glanced around to make certain she was indeed alone, and could find no evidence of another nearby. Could the spirit of Dr. Morse have been keeping an eye on the woman?Though this would do little to explain the presence of the boy in the photograph, it is known that the US Army commissioned the Lake Lure Inn during World War II (much like the nearby Grove Park Inn about an hour’s drive north in Asheville). Servicemen and their families would sometimes stay at the inn, and a number of pictures depicting soldiers and their families are still said to exist. Could the young-looking interloper in Bryant’s photo have belonged to one of these families, perhaps? Who knows… but as is the case with such historic locations, in this day and age it seems there is little that reports of ghosts could do to deter anyone from visiting for a weekend getaway in the lush mountains of Western North Carolina. If anything, curiosity seekers and history buffs alike will only be further compelled to visit, hoping to catch a glimpse of the young boy, or perhaps another of the hotel’s many supposed ghostly residents.

Here is an odd video on Youtube which so far hasn`t drawn much interest.
There is scant information on the video, in fact none at all!
It appears to show a dark figure moving from left to right and disappearing behind an object.
Ghost or hoax? You decide!

Monday, 5 November 2012

The 160-room Gadsden Hotel, Arizona, which is
listed in the National Register of Historic Places, opened in 1907, but
was badly damaged by a fire, and reopened in 1929. Since then, little
has changed.
The lobby retains the original white marble steps leading to the
large mezzanine, up which Mexican bandit-turned-revolutionary Pancho
Villa once reportedly rode his horse.
Visitors ride one of the oldest manual elevators west of the
Mississippi to their rooms, many fitted out with original furnishings,
ageing drapes and pictures that recall the hotel’s bustling heyday.

SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTERS

Haunted room 333

Many of the alleged supernatural encounters have been recorded by
guests themselves and are kept in two binders behind the front desk.
Accounts include television sets turning on and off in Room 333,
supposedly the most haunted, and mysterious knocks coming from
radiators.

“My heart almost came out of my chest,” one guest wrote of her experience.
In another testimonial, a guest reported hearing a key turning in a
lock, then two figures walking into the room “as if they just finished a
day of shopping.” Then they were gone, just like that.
One woman visitor wrote of something pulling on her hair during the
night, while another said she felt someone “sit on the edge of the bed,
then ... felt pressure as the person laid down next to me.”
Deputy manager Brenda Maley, who said a ghost once pinned her to a
bed in room 114, said she apologised and offered up a new room. But the
woman happily declined.
Television paranormal sleuths and amateur ghost hunters have probed
the Gadsden, some toting thermal image cameras. Enthusiasts have also
sent in photographs of purported paranormal phenomena, including an
eerie snap of a shadowy translucent cowboy sitting on a couch in the
lobby.
But not all guests are believers: “The only thing haunted about Room
333 is the toilet, which won’t stop running,” wrote one skeptic.
Some newer staff are a little uncomfortable. Ana Yanez, a server in
the Cattleman’s Coffee Shop, said she hears coffee spoons tinkling
sometimes, and shudders at the thought of working the front desk
‘graveyard shift’ at night.
But for Maley, who has worked at the hotel for 36 years, the ghosts provide company in an isolated town.
“You get used to it,” she said. “You would be lonely without them.” Sometimes, even a ghostly presence is welcome...

Sunday, 4 November 2012

CRUMBLING period house set on 80 acres in county Limerick, which was once valued at €40m, is still on the market, but its price has dropped to just around €1m.

Local property developer Michael Daly had expressed interest in developing the site, back in 2007, subject to planning permission, and had “magnificent plans” for the site before the collapse of the construction industry.

Located near Moyross, the property was ripe for potential given the then plans for the Regeneration area, and were to include an industrial estate and train station. During the boom period, its asking price rose from €1m to €10m, and then soaring to €40m, before collapsing back down to its original price-tag.

Auctioneer Pat Kearney, of Rooney’s, said one of the interesting aspects to the house, which was built in the 18th century, is that it appears to be haunted. “ We've had several incidents reported from people over the years about things that they can’t explain. Some people have seen a figure passing by the window on the first floor, and workmen have told us ‘there’s something funny going on in that house’, and they knew nothing of the history of the house. It seems to be a harmless, benign ghost. Other people who lived in that area years ago said they always ran past the gate,” said Mr Kearney.

Castlepark, in better days

The estate went on the market in 2001 following the death of previous owner, Limerick solicitor and coroner, Jim Lyons in 2000. It was marked with an asking price of £IR1m and little interest was shown in the site which was inherited by the Lyons family. At that time the site was valued at just over €500,000 an acre, but Mr Kearney said it should sell for in excess of agricultural values, or €10,000 to €12,000 per acre, amounting to €960,000 in total.

“We’ll listen to any decent proposal. We've been walking the land with a few people who are interested, and they've gone off to discuss what they could do with it, especially given its close proximity to the city.

Mr Kearney said in the early noughties farmers were offering €1m for the site, but “then the Celtic Tiger kicked in and developers became involved, and the price kept going up, up and up.” But he said the “plans were stillborn when the Celtic Tiger collapsed. The whole thing went up in flames.” The house was valued at £55 in the early 1850s and was gutted by fire in 2001.

When put up for auction, one selling point which caught most news outlet's attention was the ghost which was said to haunt the building, a figure which would pass by one of the windows. Workmen on the site also said there was something peculiar with the house.

One time a security guard caught her reading at a table. When he asked her how she got into a locked room, she vanished.

Poof.

Right before his eyes.

She's only been seen a few times, but the staff of the Manitoba Legislative Building library and security guards are keenly aware of her presence.

Although harmless, none of them care to spend the night waiting for her to reappear.

She's just one of the spirits said to haunt the legislative building, a Winnipeg landmark steeped in hidden-in-plain-sight mystic messages and supposed links to the occult. Its Masonic symbols and architecture are well-documented. But its ghosts?

No so much.

There's another female ghost that's said to wander the basement hallways of the building. This one sings, her voice gentle and quiet, but still echoing through the natural night noises of a building opened in 1920. The "ledge" was built on the original site of Osborne Barracks, which was established in 1873.

There are other ghosts, too, such as the one spotted by a security guard during a late-night walk-throughs of the hallways.

"I thought it was an intruder," she said recently.

Within seconds she realized what she saw, although human in form, was anything but.

"My hair just stuck up on end on the back of my neck and I froze," she said.

She said she considered hitting an alarm, but in that instant the apparition vanished. She hasn't seen it since.

Other security guards have heard similar stories, but they brush them off.

Ghosts aren't real, right?

Still, how to explain locked doors that open by themselves? The sound of a woman's high heels clicking on the marble floors when the building is empty? The books that fall off shelves when the building is closed?

"Sometimes you get a shot of static electricity that seems to float around in a ball," one guard said. "You're on a marble floor so you can't blame it on the carpet."

Other ghost stories include the man who walks the southeast, second-floor hallways wearing a long black suit and top hat. He's even been spotted on the grand staircase and when approached, he either vanishes or passes through one of the thick stone walls.

Then there are the ghosts of three men who have meetings each evening in one of the two large committee rooms. These rooms do not see daily use, but have seen their share of intense political debates. Maybe the walls harnessed that energy and release it... whenever.

Local tour guide Kristen Verin-Treusch says there are more unearthly visitors.

"Apparently, there's some spirit boys downstairs in basement area," she said. "You know how some of the doors have panes in glass in them? It's not clear glass, and from what I understand a security guard was doing his rounds and he saw these two boys inside an office with their hands cupped around their eyes looking at him in the hallway.

"He kind of thought, what-the-heck are these kids doing in here, and he went into the room and, of course, there's nobody there."

Verin-Treusch conducts tours of haunted places in Winnipeg through Muddy Water Tours.

She tries to get the boys, or their spirits, to interact with the tour group.

"We've had a medium come with us on several occasions and she thinks they're connected to another spirit person who has been seen in the building wandering around," she said.

Verin-Treusch said it goes without saying it's all very speculative whether these spirits exist.

But...

"We have stuff happening. People experience tingling in their hands when they're doing the dowsing rods.

"People start freaking out."

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Why he shot himself,

nobody really knows

It'd be pushing it to say his apparition haunts the building, but his legacy definitely does.

Ralph McNeille Pearson, deputy treasury minister for the province for 26 years, shot himself with a .38-calibre revolver in his first-floor washroom of the legislative building on Feb. 19, 1947.

His is the only confirmed death in the Manitoba Legislative Building.

His suicide stunned the government of then-premier Stuart Garson. In the newspaper coverage that followed, Pearson, 54, was eulogized as one of the most dedicated civil servants to work for the province, but also described as being in "indifferent health" in the months leading up to his death.

Pearson, who took the job Sept. 14, 1920, helped steer the provincial treasury through the 1929 stock market crash, the Great Depression and the Second World War.

He's also considered one of the architects of what became the modern federal equalization payment system, in which the federal government shares revenue with the provinces. He was also on the ground floor of helping to create Canada's employment insurance system, having witnessed what happened during the height of the Depression when so many Manitobans were out of work and the province got caught with unexpected expenditures.

While Pearson's tenure covered some of the worst years of the past century, he was also dogged by a scandal that broke out under his watch.

On Dec. 30, 1931, police arrested cashier Maurice Jones and accountant James Spawls, both employees of the Treasury Department, after it was found $102,700 ($1.690 million in today's value) was missing. A year later, both men were sentenced to four years in prison. Both stole the money over five years, using a bookkeeping slight-of-hand, to "clean up" at the horse races, betting on out-of-town horse races with Winnipeg bookies, according to newspaper accounts at the time.

Pearson and other Treasury Department officials later had to fight off accusations that $1 million had actually been pilfered from the province's coffers.

Leslie Garden and Reginald Maybury made the allegation in a newspaper they printed called The Truth of Canada. They were arrested and charged with the rare offence of publishing false news likely to injure the credit of Manitoba, but were acquitted by a jury March 22, 1932, after two hours of deliberation.

Saturday, 3 November 2012

You might expect to find spirits in a bar - but they're usually the kind that pour.

Patrons of the Legal Tender in Lamy, New Mexico, have long reported some kind of intangible 'presence' in the bar, which stands on the site of an old saloon dating back to 1881, but things reached a spooky peak one night earlier this month.

Cindy Lu Jednak and Phillip Heard were sitting with their spouses at a table when they heard the unmistakeable sound of a woman's screams coming from the restaurant kitchen.

They checked the kitchen but it was deserted, with the back door locked.

'I don't believe in ghosts,' said Heard, who works at the Legal Tender. 'There has to be an explanation for what that was. When I deal with something like this, I want to know the facts.'

Two other members of the bar's staff, Dachin Frances and Avery Young say that there's much more to the story than that one spine-chilling scream;

'Even when you are alone in a room here',says Avery, 'you never feel alone.'

And Frances said at the end of one shift she was preparing to lock up when she and co-workers heard pots and pans rattling in the darkened kitchen. Discretion proving the better part of valour, they slammed the door, locked it and left.

The kitchen has been the center of many events

Many staff refuse to stay in the joint past closing time.

There's too much evidence of a sepulchral presence to write the story off to a mixture of imagination and liquor,

Both staff and patrons have reported unexplained voices and what sounds like a heavy object being dragged across the floor of the main dining room. A chandelier hanging above that room has more than once started swinging wildly without the slightest breath of of wind.

To those that know the Legal Tender, it makes sense that some of its long-dead customers are still present.

A business first opened on the site of the Legal Tender in the early 1880s, catering to trade brought in by the newly-built Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway spur line. Somewhere along the way, the old saloon became known as the Pink Garter.

In the late 1960s, it was renamed the Legal Tender under the ownership of R.O. Anderson. 'Wichita Lineman' singer Glenn Campbell played there in his early days.
The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Over the years, a number of historic figures have passed through the Lamy area, including Teddy Roosevelt and Billy the Kid — the latter was reportedly on a train that stopped in Lamy on the way to doing some jail time in Santa Fe.

More obscure figures also found their way through the village, and perhaps never quite left — the frontier bystander reportedly shot by a stray bullet during a poker game gone sour and the female train passenger who supposedly died of appendicitis in one of the saloon's back rooms, for instance.

Their spirits — known as the Man in Black and the Lady in White — have long been rumored to roam the Legal Tender.

The spirit of a young girl is also connected to the site, although no one has ever quite worked out her back story.

But Cindy recently met a woman in her 90s who lived in Lamy in the 1920s and recalls a female playmate from that period who died of tapeworm at age 7 or 8. The two girls would often visit the store that once stood on the site of the Legal Tender. Cindy also tells anecdotes of kitchen workers feeling the invisible poke of a finger in their sides and a presence tightening their apron strings.

Cindy Lu's Learning Mind nonprofit organization has joined with the Lamy Railroad and History Museum to revitalize the Legal Tender. She and other volunteer workers reopened the restaurant last spring. It serves food Thursday through Sunday, plus most holidays. Staff often sit around for a half-hour or so after closing to talk about work — and swap ghost stories .

Parapsychologist Joni Alm has conducted about five investigations in the Legal Tender over the past six months, utilizing a high-tech audio recorder and a 'ghost-meter', a device that registers changes in electromagnetic fields and might thus reveal paranormal energy.

That ghost-meter blinks red when it encounters inexplicable energy, and it just about went crazy during a recent late-night tour of the kitchen area, about the same time that a New Mexican photographer's flashlight went dead. The batteries were new. The flashlight worked just fine when he left the restaurant.

A four-hour ghost hunt, one recent October evening,yielded a chorus of unexplained noises: although Cindy does admit that the ice machine sometimes makes a noise that sounds like a distant gunshot.

Alm's ghost-meter lit up when Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata. was played - ''If anything is going to bring a ghost out, it's that ,' Heard said.

On her audio recorder, Alm captured strange sounds, including what seem to be ghostly whispering and, at one point, what seemed to be the the voice of a man saying 'Go away.'

'I feel strongly that there are several entities in there, at least three' She says.

She has felt that child's spirit in her presence at least twice, she said. She feels a male energy, too. 'There is no fear at all. I actually feel a sense of impatience from the Man in Black spirit, like he wants his space back,' she said with a laugh.

Cindy is doubtful that the Lady in White or the Man in Black are still around. She said that various 'cleansings' have occurred within the building over the past couple of decades in an effort to exorcise the spirits, and perhaps these two old-timers have faded away.

But Cindy's certain that a feisty female energy clings to the site. She has reason to believe it is a more contemporary spirit, that of a young woman who went missing in the area not so long ago.

Cindy is loath to to describe what happens out at the Legal Tender as a haunting. 'It's just a presence, an energy, of someone or something that is here,' she said. 'It's an energy from a different time; from a different dimension, even.'

And she said she's s never afraid — not even when she hears unexplained whispering or her name being called by others when she is alone in the building.

Thursday, 1 November 2012

The ancient stone walls of Dover Castle have witnessed many strange and horrific events and the fortress is said to be the home of a number of phantoms from times gone by.

Some have even been the subject of TV programmes and there is amateur footage available of the internet..

Meridian broadcast footage of a massive pair of doors being shaken by some unseen force and medium Derek Acorah claimed to have seen one of the castle’s most famous ghosts – that of a headless drummer boy – and helped the spirit “find rest”.

Dover Castle is one of the most haunted buildings in England with the main tower, the walls and the tunnels in the cliffs all having had sightings of strange apparitions or unexplained noises reported.

Around the stairwell the figure of a woman has been seen wearing a long red dress and sobbing while the “lower half” of a man has also been spotted in the area now called the King’s Bedroom.

In the same vicinity the sound of a door creaking opening and closing has been heard – although the door no longer exists.

But possibly the most famous ghost in the old building and its surroundings is that of the drummer boy, whose tale features prominently in the walks.

He has been popularly named as Sean Flynn who died at the age of 15 – but his headless ghosts is said to beat a drum as it stalks the walls of the castle.

According to legend, he arrived late one night with his drum and a large sum of money with which to pay the garrison. Two men heard about his mission and decided to rob him.

They lay in wait for him and attacked, one decapitating him with a knife or sword.

Reports of drumming noises and even sighting came from the area where the murder was alleged to have taken place and Acorah investigated as part of the Most Haunted TV show.

The spirit medium said he received a message that Sean missed his mother and added that he helped the restless ghost to find peace.

Writer Neil Arnold has studied ghosts all across Kent.

He said: “I think a lot of stories get passed down through the years and become part of folklore, so they are impossible to verify.

“And Dover has its fair share. I have heard a story about a man who was killed in the Hellfire Corner tunnels during the Second World War setting up amplifier equipment, then, years later, a figure was seen working on some sort of device which then passed straight through a visitor.

“A ghostly doctor has been reported in the old hospital and strange shadows have been seen in the former operating theatre. A soldier in a helmet and carrying a pike is another sighting as is a ghost sliding through the grass which possibly had an animal like form.

“People in Second World War uniforms have been reported on several occasions, especially in the tunnels which were used in wartime. But of course re-enactors frequently act out scenes from the castle’s history and there are historical holographic displays for visitors as well. Witnesses can be very unreliable – but Dover does have some interesting stories.”

Wednesday, 31 October 2012

During an investigation this photo was
taking showing what Engle believes
is a soldier in the mirror. The face can be
seen in the
reflection of her hair.

HAZARD — While parents have often tried to convince children that the
things that go bump in the night are creaking floors or wind through
the trees, some say there are places here in Perry County where it might
just be the spirits of the past.
Perry County resident Mary Engle literally wrote the book on searching for the paranormal called Ghost Hunt Like a Pro,
and was featured in a special on the Bio Channel investigating the
infamous Lizzie Borden House that was the home of two brutal murders.
She has also investigated haunted places across the country for ghost
activity, but says she has found quite a bit of it in her own backyard.
Hazard
and Perry County have played host to some of the bloody history that
covers the United States during its early days of growth and industry.
The push to connect the country through the railway often led to unsafe
work conditions and major disasters. The sight of one of these disasters
is rumored to be the Dunraven Tunnels near Krypton. It is believed that
several men died in the construction of these tunnels and may continue
to haunt the area today.
It is accepted in the paranormal
investigations field that there are three major types of paranormal
activity. The first is a ghost, or the spirit of a person, that is aware
of what is going on in the physical world and reacts to it such as
answering questions on recordings. This is considered an intelligent
haunting.
The second is typically associated with ghostly
figures, such as a bartender, regularly seen at a bar in period
clothing. They are acting out part of their former life. Theories posit
that this person does not know they have died, and their energy was left
in this world when their spirit crossed over to the afterlife.
The
third kind includes beings that never existed in the physical world.
This is the demonic. It is typically associated with demon possession,
attacks on people, and the overall evil side of the paranormal.
It
is possible, Engle noted, that the tunnels in Dunraven have paranormal
activity from all three of these sources. “Probably one of the most
interesting places I have investigated in Dunraven here is Perry
County,” she said. “There is definitely haunted history there.”

While doing an investigation on train tracks this photo was taken showing what is thought to be a sign of ghostly activity. The white substance in the photos is believed to be ectoplasm which presents itself in the presents of spirits.

Engle
claims that she and her team of investigators, Overnight Ghost Hunters,
have captured several photos of a substance that is referred to as
ectoplasm. In scientific terms, ectoplasm is the very outer membrane of
cells, but in paranormal terms this ectoplasm is believed to be evidence
of ghosts. While it is invisible to the naked eye, it can be captured
in photos and looks like mist or smoke and often appears directional or
in the form of a person.
The tunnels are rumored to be the home
of some dark spirits that have even allegedly chased and attacked people
that enter them. Old time train whistles and lights can reportedly be
heard and seen when no train is coming. Unexplained lights are also
believed to glow from manholes in the walls.
While this is a great place to find ghostly activity, Engle said it is not safe to explore.
Another
place rumored to be wildly haunted is the old Hazard ARH building in
Airport Gardens. “When you think about the Hazard ARH and it being a hot
bed of activity, you have to realize about how many people died in that
hospital,” said Engle. “They used to have a psych center there that was
quite active. They would house some very severe cases.”
Engle
has not been able to go inside the building to investigate since it is
still a working office for the hospital which moved to Morton Boulevard.
Despite this, she and her team have conducted some investigative work
outside the building and gathered many stories from people that have
worked there.
“Everyone that I have spoken to have given me the
history of the nursery,” said Engle. “Several people have talked about a
nurse standing with a baby in a white uniform. They also report that
they smell a lot of baby powder.”
While this nurse apparition
seems to be a stored energy or repetitive haunting, activity in the
mental facilities area seems to take on a dark sort of paranormal
activity. “That is primarily demonic. Pretty scary stuff,” said Engle.
“Things levitate. They are able to manipulate lights.”
Another
place notorious for reported ghostly activity is Main Street in Hazard.
Hazard has been the home to thousands of people and businesses as well
as bloody feuds and hospitals. Engle said that where Main Street is
situated today has not always been where it was historically.
During
the days of the deadly French Eversole War, Main Street was the home of
many of the bloodiest scenes of the feud. Several of the men killed in
the war were shot on Main Street, and this is one of the reasons Engle
said she was found so much activity.
Using what is known as a
Frank’s Box, which is a scanner working on radio frequencies, it is
believed that the voices of the deceased can be heard. Using this piece
of equipment along with digital voice recorders and flash lights, Engle
said she was able to talk to several spirits on Main Street, including
the wife of one of the Eversoles involved in the war.
While some
spirits are not seen as a threat or unfriendly, it is believed that one
that resides in the Typo area is not so pleasant. There is a
long-standing urban legend of a man being killed on the train tracks
there after being held down by his attackers while a train hit him.
Since his death, he has allegedly haunted this area and will even hold
unsuspecting victims on the tracks.
“The tale is that you go over
there, especially on a full moon, and something will hold you on the
tracks,” said Engle. “You physically cannot move. You cannot run you
cannot scream.”
Engle said there are hundreds, even thousands of
spirits among us in Perry County mostly due to our history. She and her
team are happy to take people on hunts to find some of the ghost
residing here. You can find out more about Engle and about going on an
investigation by visiting www.OvernightGhostHuntersInc.com.